Five Useful Tips to Buy Auto Insurance

By Hayden KruegerPublished: Sunday, January 24th, 2010

Buying auto insurance can be confusing for people who are purchasing insurance for the first time since there are so many options for vehicle insurance. This article will help you understand how to buy insurance by elaborating of 5 tips that will remove the confusion from buying auto insurance.

Know Your Requirements

Before buying auto insurance you should make a list of the things you need in vehicle insurance and you should make a list of the mandatory liabilities in your state. You should also determine how much you can spend on vehicle insurance every month, how many cars need to be insured and who all needs to be part of your insurance policy. If you are insuring more than 1 car then you should consider insuring all the cars from one insurance company since this will make you eligible for discounts.

Search Online

Most of the reputed auto insurance companies advertise online since through the internet these companies can reach a larger number of people. Almost all reputed insurance companies shave genuine websites online through which customers can get quotes and buy insurance.

The benefit of searching online is that you can get free quotes through a number of vehicle insurance websites and you can also get multiple quotes which will help you determine which company is worth signing up with. By searching online you can compare quotes through tools offered on free websites and you can get a estimate of the benefits offered by each company. After you have exhausted all the possible online options then you should consider opening the phone book and using the phone to contact vehicle insurance companies.

Know Your Discounts

Many vehicle insurance companies do not inform customers about various discounts and promotions unless the customers ask for information. Before contacting the vehicle insurance company you should find out if you are eligible for discounts like safe driver discount, student discount, defensive driving class discount and safe car discounts. After you have found out which discounts you and your family members are eligible for you should contact the auto insurance company and get more details.

Ask Questions

When you meet the representative sent by the auto insurance company you should ask all the questions that are in your mind. Some of the additional questions you should ask include what all liabilities are covered in the policy, how much does it cost to add a liability, how much extra does it cost to add an adult driver or a teen driver and what is the amount offered if your car is totaled in an accident.

Pay by Check

After you have decided which vehicle insurance company you want to sign up with you should pay by a safe payment method like checks. Licensed agents and reputed companies do not take the payment by cash nor do they ask for a part payment by cash. You should completely avoid paying by wireless transfer since this mode of payment is especially risky. In the auto industry wireless transfer is used mainly by scammers so if an insurance company insists that you can only pay by wireless transfer then you should be extremely careful. Before paying the insurance company you should read the agreement carefully and you should make it a point to read the fine print in the agreement.